Dark Hour Investigation Squad
by Jharoz
Summary: When Minato hopped off the train to Iwatodai, he never expected a giant tower. Nor did he expect Shadows, or Personas, for that matter. But what are they? Why did they come? How did Tartarus manifest? Just what is the Dark Hour?


**Okay, the first chapter was just a trial run. I wanted to see everyone's reactions and that was drawn out ages ago so I suppose I should've known better not to post it yet. *facepalm***

**So, here's the ACTUAL first chapter. After some revisions and- shit, nevermind, I just tore the whole thing down pretty much. It disgusted me to no end after reading over it so I will rewrite, and this time it'll be good.**

**Hopefully.

* * *

**

The rickety flow of the Iwatodai Bullet Train system caused the only sound throughout the entire bullet train which happened to be the noise of the grip bars rattling from the top.

Two people sat in car five, and both kept to themselves. The first one was obviously male, judging by his broad shoulders and tall stature. He seemed to be somewhat bored with the paper in his hands having read through same article of a purse snatcher in the greater Iwatodai region over five times. The other person seemed somewhat of a mystery, though. They way they held their posture seemed to be male, while the long, straight slick of blue hair covering the right side of his face and touching their collar might say female. Slung over the person's shoulder was a duffel bag and they had a head-phone in one ear gently bobbing their head to the beat of _Numb._

The man with newspaper sighed and folded his _Iwatodai Monthly_ to reveal a very gruff face, bearded, and scars marring his features with his brown eyes and straight black hair. Obviously bored, he tried to strike up conversation with the other occupant. "I'm guessin' yer movin' here?" he asked in a tone that held world-weariness to the nth degree.

The other occupant raised an eyebrow from the unveiled side of their face and simply nodded.

The first occupant shrugged. "Nothin' to interestin' 'round these parts. The first crime in months had finally occurred and all it is, is a damn purse snatchin'." he seemed as if it were an insult that such had happened in a time of peace like this.

The other occupant decided to speak up. "It'd be nice to get away from huge parts of the city for a while." His voice, clearly male, seemed to be an octave and a half lower than the other man's voice. He leaned out of the shadows to show his face.

Slicked to the right side of his face, he had midnight blue hair that touched the collar of the dress shirt he was wearing. His visible left eye was a light grey, almost silver, and signified wisdom, and calmness. He wore a blazer over his dress shirt, and a black string tie along through the collar, and had an MP3 player hanging loosely from his neck, along with _Bose_ headphones used for maximum undisturbance. Coupled with regular black slacks and black riot shoes he seemed like any other student that went to the local high school of the island: Gekkoukan.

"Ahh, so yer from the hustle and bustle, eh? I s'pose yer right. After all, no one's really happy with what they got, huh?" he finished his question with spreading open his arms as if he were a truth teller.

"Humans are a dissatisfied species." the other countered with a resonance of finality.

The old man stroked his rough beard. "What'd you say your name was?"

And as he asked that, he noticed that the speakers were blaring from the captain's quarters specifying that they reached Port Island Station.

As the doors opened, the blue-haired youth called over his shoulder. "I didn't."

The old man shrugged helplessly. Kids these days... they're either too stupid to know anything or too smart and know everything.

* * *

As the youth left the bullet train and headed towards the grand staircase leading out of the dank sub-station port and into the actual city where you could breathe artificial lilies and majestic fountains instead of a beggar's bad breath.

However, he looked at the top and noticed the digital clock overhead the staircase reading Eleven Fifty-Nine.

The blue-haired youth took a deep sigh along with a cigaret and a lightly before lighting it and taking a drag from it. "This ain't gonna bode well if I show up magically in front them..."

Suddenly, the MP3 player turned off, along with the digital clock, and the teen felt himself get pulled by the navel for three brief seconds. However, that's all it took for him to kneel on the ground, cig clenched tightly between his teeth. "Damn, I hate that feeling..."

Instead of the normal glow from the dark blue night would usually go along the rims of the skyscrapers and hotels of Iwatodai, a sickly green blanketed the skies and gave an over-all feeling of dread. Couple that with coffins spread throughout the streets and sidewalks along with blood coating random areas, would make a normal person convulse over and over again.

However, the only reaction towards the change of scenery from the no-named teen was a large whiff of his cigaret and blew out a ring before sighing. _'Bet if I take my time, I'd make it to the Dorm and the time would pass...'_ he thought wistfully.

* * *

Meandering through the streets, passing a shrine, he finally reached a large four-story building, but his reaction to it was dour. _'Perfect. Now they'll think I'm so kind of magician... oh well, I've been through worse...' _he smirked bitterly.

Opening the double doors to the dorm that he would be staying at for the next year and crossed the threshold, letting out an air of defiance in his wake.

Of course, he expected, the living room was empty and all the lights flipped off.

What he didn't expect was a child, sitting behind the receptionist's desk, his hands folded to make a bridge to rest his head on it. "You're late. I've been waiting for you, here." he stated simply.

To this, the teen raised his visible eyebrow. The child seemed no older than eight, and before he could respond to the assumption, the child broke one of his hands off the 'bridge' and motioned to a document set in front of him with a quill pen and an ink cartridge. "Sign this contract, if you wish to continue, don't worry. It's the usual stuff; just stating that you'll take full responsibility for your actions." he spoke with an air of maturity and stillness that somewhat frightened the youth.

However, judging by the fact that since he was first entering the building and would be living here, it only seemed natural to have a contract, right? The contract's contents, however, were barren; merely stating 'I take full responsibility in my future action and am willing to back up whatever I choose upon me.' then there was a signature line.

Feeling no loophole would get at him, he pulled out his cigaret, butted it out, left it in the ash tray on the receptionist's desk, took the pen, and finally wrote his name out in a very legible and neat way.

_'Arisato, Minato'_

And with that, the child snatched the document away and was finally in plain view for the recently introduced Minato to see. He was indeed a child, with wonderful blue eyes, messy and curly black hair, and wore nothing but an oversized black and white stripped shirt and pant ensemble. Looking more like an old-school convict from America instead of an adorable little child, it made Minato feel... uncomfortable.

He spoke again. "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the end," he somewhat recited eerily, "you can't plug your ears and cover your eyes towards the impending doom." He merely waved the document away from his face, and it vanished. Reaching out, he said one last thing. "And so it begins..." and the shadows took a turn towards the boy, and he was gone.

Of course, Minato never believed in magic, all mirrors and deception, but that was indeed impressive... if not creepy. But before he could reflect more on the topic, a feminine voice called out, "Who's there?!"

A girl ran through a hallway and stood facing Minato, a gun in her hand and a scowl on her face.

Not letting his primordial instincts of 'Get the fuck out of there, she's got a gun!', he instead calmed and analyzed the situation.

The girl was small, maybe her head ended at his nose, with brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a pink cardigan with a red bow near her collar button and a scarlet armband that signified a club. She also had a skirt that _had _to have gone against some school rule, barely ending three inches away from her waist, and on her right leg was a holster; probably used for the gun she was holding, or more or less pointing at him. Coupled with some dock shoes and long black stockings, she seemed to be the average school girl. But of course there was the gun issue...

He had to admit, she was somewhat attractive. But then again, that thought was carelessly discarded with the thought of her gun and grimace. Not the best combination.

She was hyperventilating, obviously not really going to shoot him, but the thought seemed more and more encouraging to the girl until an authoritative voice resounded out.

"Takeba, wait!"

The girl lowered her gun quickly and looked over her right shoulder. Minato followed the suit and was stunned.

This girl, no, young woman, exuded an aura of power and wisdom. She had a mane of true red hair along with red eyes, however one of her eyes was covered by her hair like Minato and he knew why. Eyes are the gateway to one's mind and mentality. You can't hide emotions from being seen in your eyes and with one covered, it makes you less susceptible to being figured out. Of course that was Minato's reason. Maybe it's just the new style to wear it over your eye for women? She also wore one of those arm bands on her left arm obviously signifying the club that eluded Minato's eyes. She wore a white lined button down dress shirt with cuffs that ended at her wrists, a big red ribbon looking similar to Takeba's, along with a much more modest skirt, still going over her knee, but not by much than an inch or so. She wore black stockings also, but with a sliver design near the top, along with black high-heels. She also wore a girdle holster for a gun, the barrel seeming very similar to this 'Takeba's.

Before any other words passed, the lights flickered back to life, and the headphone that wasn't in Minato's ear was blazing: "_I've! Become so nu~mb, I can't feel you there~!" _The only male in the room quickly pressed the pause button, before chuckling sheepishly.

The redhead stepped forward, next to 'Takeba (who visibly relaxed)', and spoke again in a more melodious tone, this time to Minato. "I didn't think you'd get here so late," she started, in hopes to break the ice, "I'm Kirijo, Mitsuru, one of the people taking occupancy in the dorms."

"Who's he?" 'Takeba' asked quietly, trying desperately to be subtle. But nevertheless, Minato heard her somewhat blatant rudeness.

Mitsuru looked at the other girl. "He's a transfer student; he's only here until his living arrangements will be sorted out." Mitsuru invited Minato back into the conversation by gesturing to the brunette next to her. "This is Takeba, Yukari. She'll be in the same grade as you; so do try to make friends."

'Yukari' nodded dumbly. "Hiya."

Minato decided that it was time for him to speak so he asked the most obvious question. "Any reason behind that gun of yours?" he asked, visible eyebrow arched.

Yukari flinched. "Ohh... uhh... it's kinda, like uh, hobby-"

Mitsuru cut in sharply. "It's for self-defence. This place has quite the run with delinquents these days and you can never be too careful," she forced a grin, "it's not a real gun, of course."

Yukari, again, visibly relaxed.

Minato would've turned a blind eye toward that explanation if it weren't for reading over that headline the old man on the bullet train was grumbling about. However, pressing the subject while being a guest to such a commodious dorm would be down right insulting. And Minato Arisato never started anything. He just retaliates.

Giving the living room a once over, he was somewhat interested. This little nobody dorm had victoria-syled couches and seats, a bar, and a dining table.

Something was seriously up, but given the time and Minato's headache, he just didn't want to put up with it.

Mitsuru noticed his unveiled eye drooping down and capitalized on it. "It's getting late, you should get some rest."

This time, Minato _was _interested. This... Mitsuru, was very analytical. Since he was pressing a subject on secret matters she found a way to brush him off and have no argument against it. _'Smart little bird, indeed...'_

Physically, however Minato shrugged and nodded.

Mitsuru nodded as well. "Takeba, do you mind showing Arisato where his room is?"

Yukari shrugged. "Sure." She started up the stairs motioning Minato to follow.

Walking past Mitsuru he whispered something that only she could hear, and made it so fluidly it made it seem like he said nothing at all, "Purse-snatcher." And then he continued up the stairs.

Mitsuru's visible red eye widened and was going to retaliate before she realized that Minato was gone. She shook her head. "I can't let anything get to me..."

* * *

Down the hall of the second floor, Yukari stood next to a door and nodded over to it. "You'll stay here until they get everything settled. Pretty easy to remember right? Just down the hall." Yukari chuckled weakly, but stopped, seeing Minato wasn't. "Oh yeah, and don't lose your key. You'll be boggled down by so much it'd be unbearable..."

Minato thought that might have something to do with the contract... maybe.

"So, any questions?" Yukari asked, a little patiently, yearning for her bed right now.

"Just one, but we can discuss it later. I'm tired, you're tired. Let's just go to bed." and he reached to open the door.

However, Yukari grabbed his arm. "Hey, about tonight... did you see anything... out of the ordinary?"

Minato arched his eyebrow at this question. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

Yukari let go of his arm and sighed. "Alright, now you get to sleep; we got school tomorrow... or today, or whatever."

Minato just nodded before entering his room and closing the door for the night. Quickly getting out of his school clothes and into a white wife-beater and relaxing pants, he slipped into the bed that was on the right side of the room and drifted out into dream world the moment his head hit the pillow.

* * *

_'They're escaping!'_

_'Get out! The laboratory is under quarantine! The shadows have broken through!'_

_'No! Mina-chan is sill in there!'_

_'We have to keep moving!'_

_'MINA-CHAN!'_

Minato woke into a cold sweat, his visible grey eye bloodshot and his hair clung tightly to his face.

He jumped out of bed and ran to his mirror before examining his shaking body. Grabbing a roll from his pack, his spazzing hand could barely keep steady enough to place the cig in his mouth and had to try three times before he could keep the lighter steady enough to take a drag from his cancer stick.

Coughing up a little blood into the sink he sighed. "Fuckin' past..."

Figuring that it was too late to go back to sleep he slipped on his school clothes, albeit slowly.

Just as he finished pulling his right arm through the sleeve of his blazer, a gentle knock on the door pulled him out of his morning ritual. "Hey, it's me." Takeba. "Are you awake?"

Minato opened the door and allowed her in. She tried the normal ice breaker. "Good morning, did you sleep okay?" that was when she noticed the smoke in his mouth. "You.. uhh... smoke?" she asked tentatively, like it was against the law or something.

Minato shrugged. "Sometimes I think too much. I need something to clear my head. And besides, I've had multiple lung check-ups and both of them are pink as they were before I even started."

Yukari's mouth formed an 'O' and nodded dumbly. "Well, anyways, Mitsuru-sempai asked me to show you the way to school. She had student council dealings and is sorry she couldn't show you the way herself."

Minato shrugged. "So are we going?"

Yukari nodded, her brown hair swishing back and forth. "Yup! Let's go!"

Minato made sure to purge last night's dream. However he'd have the same tonight, so why would it matter?

* * *

The tram ride to Gekkoukan was filled to the brim with students, and Minato and Yukari stood, hand firmly on the grips, silently. Bending through a wide turn, Yukari's eyes sparkled and pointed to something on the other side. "There it is, Gekkoukan High school."

Minato quickly pulled out his cigaret and his visible eye widened in shock.

This was no school. This was a fucking _DOME. _The parking lot in itself was bigger than his old school, and Gekkoukan looked more to be like the Prime Minister's private mansion than a high school. The rise of it had to be over sixty meters high, and the width was more than Minato could count. On the outside exterior, behind the massive structure was a recession field used for practice mostly by the clubs that inhabited the "school."

"Ya sure?" came Minato's reply.

Stepping out of the now docked tram, Yukari and Minato took a few steps forward, immersing in the noise of reintroductions from the past semester, going over what happened during their break etcetera, before Yukari turned around and spread her arms out wide. "Welcome, to Gekkoukan High. Hope you enjoy it better than most slackers do."

Minato knew that place held knowledge.

What he didn't know, was that it also held corpses of long past.

* * *

Pushing through the double doors and stopping next to the shoe locker Yukari turned to Minato. "Ok, I need to head to my own homeroom. You go see your homeroom teacher in the faculty office, to the left, down the hall and the third left door is your ticket. That's the end of the tour, for now. Any questions?" she asked, but Minato knew she was just trying to be polite.

"None. See ya." he started walking off, but he felt the same vice grip on his arm that he felt last night before he entered his room.

"Hey, don't tell anyone what happened last night, okay?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't say much to begin with." he recoiled his arm as Yukari let go and ran up the stairs. Judging by the number of people crowded around the bulletin board, Minato's best bet was to start there. While searching for his name and room assignment he overheard a conversation from a dark skinned girl wearing the regular uniform and a tall boy wearing the P.E. uniform if he could guess.

"Ugh! Kaz! Why do you have to wear that sweaty uniform!" the girl complained.

"What? I've gotta get better, and if that means having to train during lunch break by going out on a run, then so be it!" 'Kaz' proclaimed proudly.

The girl sighed. "And we're in different classes... so that means I won't be able to keep an eye on you..."

Just as the girl finished that thought, Minato combed all the way through the board and located his class. '2-F', hopefully not his grade throughout the year...

* * *

Sliding open the door to, what Yukari said, the Faculty Room, Minato crossed the threshold. He held his head high, and exuded his aura of defiance, calmness, and intelligence.

"Are you Minato? Over here!" came the voice of a young brown haired teacher wearing a disgusting pepto-bismal pink button down slacks combo. "Eleventh grade, correct?" Her eyes darted between the stolid adolescent and her clipboard laced with information in her hands. "Wow, you've been all over the place! Even to a few schools in America! And you're parents are..." her eyes widened and turned apologetic instantaneously. "Oh, I'm so sorry. With all the hustle and bustle of the new year, I barely had time to read over your papers. Anyways, I'm Ms. Toriumi, your homeroom teacher for your junior year, class '2-F.' Hopefully this misstep won't affect our new student-teacher relationship?" Ms. Toriumi held out her hand to which Minato grasped it firmly and shook it.

"See you in class." and with that, Minato turned on his heel and head towards the door.

"Wait! You need to go to the auditorium for a mandatory Welcoming Ceremony!" Ms. Toriumi called out.

The only sign Minato gave her to let her know he acknowledged it was pointing his index and middle finger out and motioning them forward in a somewhat cutting motion.

* * *

Setting himself down in the cool felt auditorium seats, Minato kept to himself with his music blaring until an old over-weight man approached the speaking podium. He groaned and shut his MP3 off and pulled off his headphones.

"As you begin the new school year..." he started off in a grandfatherly tone, in which Minato heard many times before. He was just trying to get everyone on his side making him seem like nothing more than a caring old man. Disgusting. "I'd like each of you to remember the proverb: "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. When applied to student life this means that you should take your studies in full stride. Seniors who are about to leave this fine institution will need to find a wondrous university to house their learning cravings. Juniors who are beginning to take the first stride into adulthood must remember that when you take one step back, it's not a negative step, it's still a step. Sophomores would best take heed in what they learned as Freshmen and apply it to their daily student lives. And young Freshmen, you must take a stride for better this year, because first impressions always last, and it would do you good to make a good impression before anything else. Thank you." the old man stepped away and took an 'honorable' bow, while the student body either clapped excitedly or dully. No in-between there.

While the students were filing out of the rows, someone grabbed Minato's sleeve. Almost going into a furious rage, he turned around to see a regular brown-haired kin behind him. Relaxing (for now), he let the kid explain himself. But one foul step...

"You came to school with Yukari this morning right? I saw you two walking together."

"That answers your question, huh?" Minato retracted his hand from the kid's grasp. Geez, if they already knew, why ask?

"No, my question is: does she have a boyfriend?" the kid asked, hope brimming in his voice.

Looking over his shoulder and seeing no one Minato quickly snagged a joint out of his pack, lit it, and before the kid could say anything about 'no smoking at school, he put it out on his forehead.

The nerve of some people!

* * *

After narrowly escaping anything close to detention by throwing his precious pack of smokes, Minato slumped in the back of his chair after school, looking at all the syllabi he received for all his classes. _'Why the fuck do we need a cauldron and stirring stick for this nut job?' _Minato thought bitterly, eyeing a teacher by the name of 'Edigawa's syllabus.

Placing all the papers in his brief case, Minato scooted out of his chair and started heading out of the class before a student caught him. "'Sup dude?" he asked in a chilled voice.

Minato's eye twitched and faced his potential victim. He was taller than him, wore his blazer unbuttoned to show his light purple dress shirt with the collar popped, a ball cap, and the regular black slacks and tennis shoes. However, Minato was more concerned with his face. He had **big-ass** goatee! How in the world did the teachers of a private school let that slip was beyond him.

"How's it going?" he asked in the same chilled voice.

_'Stoner.'_ Minato chuckled mentally.

"What'cha want?"

"Whoa, chill dude. I'm Iori Junpei. Nice to meet'cha...?"

"Arisato Minato."

"Yeah, I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid... So I stopped by to say 'hey.' See, I'm a nice guy!"

_'Long as you don't offer candy.'_

Junpei kept on talking and talking and talking until Yukari stepped in to rescue Minato.

"Heyyy.... Yuka-tan, wassup? Can you imagine being in the same class, _again_?" Junpei spoke smoothly.

Yukari sighed. "I swear, you must really enjoy the sound of your own voice. Have you ever considered the fact that you're actually bothering someone?" Yukari asked in a chiding tone.

_'You're one to talk.'_

Junpei looked a little downcast. "What? I was just tryin' ta be friendly, an' all."

Yukari brushed it off. "Believe what you want to. Anyway, looks like we got homeroom," Yukari directed to Minato who merely shrugged.

"Your point being?"

"Just throwing it out there. It's a little funny." Yukari giggled a bit to emphasize the point.

Junpei, feeling a little put-out, butted in. "Helloooo~? I'm in the same homeroom, too? Oh, and I heard you two walked to class this morning..." Junpei paused a bit to investigate Yukari's look of horror. "What's with that? Gimmie the dirt, c'mon!"

"Wh-wha-What are you talking about?" Yukari panicked. "We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay? Why are people even talking about it? You've got me worried, now..." Yukari paled.

_'Social insecurity, much?'_

"Hey..." Yukari drug Minato out of his reverie, "you didn't say anything to anyone about... you know what, right?" Minato shook his head. "Good... Seriously though, forget what happened last night!" Yukari stated a little too loudly causing Minato to facepalm and Junpei to start blushing.

"Last... night?" he ground out.

"What? Oh no! Nothing not a thi-!" Yukari started before Minato held his hand out to shut her up.

"Yeah, last night we had wild pig sex against the wall eight times while she kept moaning out my name as I boned her with my stiff hard cock. Get your shit together, man." And Minato left, leaving Junpei with a bloody nose, Yukari with steam emitting from her ears, and whole lot of whispers roaming throughout the classroom.

America was worse.

* * *

Taking the scenic route along Iwatodai Station was a good idea. Watching all the hustle and bustle of the work stations made him relax back into the crowd while _'You're Gonna Go Far Kid' _blared in his ears, canceling out all outside distractive noises like a jackhammer in the construction area behind the bookstore or the constant beeping of horns in rush hour traffic thinking it'll move traffic faster.

Which it didn't.

However, his walk was finished as he approached the double doors to his dorm and crossed the threshold, Mitsuru already in the living room reading a book. "Welcome back. It'd be best for you not to leave during the evenings. You don't know what could happen out there." she spoke out.

Pulling off his headphones and letting them dangle from his neck, Minato shrugged. "Yeah, who knows, someone would steal my purse."

"What are you insinuating, Arisato?"

"I read the paper on the way here. For the past five _months_ there's been no crime, and just recently there was a purse-theft. I don't believe your story about the guns for a second. But if you don't want me to know, then I won't know." he stated simply. "I'm going to my room, don't wait up for me."

Guiding his hand along the railing he had smooth sailing towards his room, where he lit up a cig, cranked up the volume of his surround sound stereo that he unpacked, and let the music take him away from the world.

It's the only place where he actually felt... safe.

* * *

A tall young man strode through the living room and approached Mitsuru. "I'm going out for a bit." he said in a... slithery tone, for lack of a better word.

Mitsuru glanced up from her book. "Hm?"

The young man shrugged. "Didn't you see the news paper? Cases of Apathy Syndrome have increased drastically, and I know it's THEM."

Mitsuru sighed, dog-eared her book, and set it down. "I know. They had no symptoms and suddenly had an acute illness. People say it's due to stress but..."

The young man spoke in a confidant tone. "But if it was, then it's not worth my time."

"One-track minds lead to self-destruction. You sure you'll be okay on your own? The chairman will arrive here tomorrow and stay for the next few days, but after he leaves I'll be able to..."

"Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice. Put some faith in me." with that, he walked out of the dorm.

Mitsuru sighed. "You're not going to get a 'game over' screen and be able to restart at the last checkpoint, Akihiko..."

* * *

**I decided that that first chapter I created was VERY inadequate. I apologize to those who read it because, frankly, when I re-read it, I gouged my eyes out.**

**I was DISGUSTED by my work and I hope that you have half a mind to read this new, revised piece of work.**

**Besides, I think the original was extremely juvenile of me. Sure, a Minato/Mitsuru fic is always welcome. But you can't enjoy it if it's illegible and all-around... distasteful.**

**And to answer a question or two: The reason why I chose Mitsuru to lead Minato to Gekkoukan was because I wanted to squeeze some development in there, but realized that was bullshit, so I had to take it away, and I changed it to General/Mystery because this story will have General-esque qualities: hanging with friends, action, adventure, romance; and Mystery because.... well you'll figure that out, later.**

**You know what to do:**

**Read**

**Rave**

**Review**

**Ja ne!**

**~Jharoz**


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